# Humidor not working properly, need help



## Slick26 (Jun 22, 2006)

I just recently set up my humidor and I went to a good site that took me through the process of setting it up correctly. Anyway, I just ordered some not so cheap cigars about a week ago and now my cigars are already starting to get crispy. Not too bad to the point of being junk... but getting there, and fast. I need some help from someone that may know humidors well. I checked my hygrometer in the humidor and it hasnt budged above lower 60's... mostly it stays around 62ish. As far as my limited knowledge goes, thats not a healthy area to be in. And if it is okay... then why are my cigars already drying up on me? I'm not happy. I didnt spend that kind of money on good cigars for once just to have them dry up on me.  Please help. Thanks.


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## Ermo (Jun 3, 2006)

If you have an analog hygro. it is most likely inaccurate. Get some distilled water at the grocery store and put some in a shot glass in your humi(only a quick fix). Order beads from www.heartfeltindustries.com first thing tomorrow morning, preferably 65%. Search the boards on the beads. Also, get a digital hygro from radio shack, analogs are for looks only.


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## Slick26 (Jun 22, 2006)

Thanks. Are my cigars going to be ok? LOL. I'm worried they are going to kick the bucket. I spent too much for them to dry up and die on me! 62% isnt THAT bad is it?


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## galaga (Sep 18, 2003)

Slick26 said:


> I just recently set up my humidor and I went to a good site that took me through the process of setting it up correctly. Anyway, I just ordered some not so cheap cigars about a week ago and now my cigars are already starting to get crispy. Not too bad to the point of being junk... but getting there, and fast. I need some help from someone that may know humidors well. I checked my hygrometer in the humidor and it hasnt budged above lower 60's... mostly it stays around 62ish. As far as my limited knowledge goes, thats not a healthy area to be in. And if it is okay... then why are my cigars already drying up on me? I'm not happy. I didnt spend that kind of money on good cigars for once just to have them dry up on me.  Please help. Thanks.


What kind of humidifier are you using?
Did you calibrate your hydrometer?
Where are you located or what are the ambient conditions where your humidor is located?
What do you mean by getting crispy?

Although some may not think 62 is optimum, if the RH is really 62, the cigars might not smoke well, but they would take weeks or months or even longer to dry up on you. They can be salvaged. Try answering those questions and I or someone will try and help you out a little.


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## Slick26 (Jun 22, 2006)

I'm using just the hardware that was in the humidor when it was sent to me. So basically its analog junk. I put distilled water in it like i was told. I wiped down the humidor, twice, a day apart, like i was told. I didnt think they would dry up on me in just a week, but thats what seems like is happening. I did calibrate it, but its analog, so who knows. I live in Minnesota. This time of year its very humid here, so that shouldnt be a problem! And what I mean by getting crispy, is when I pinch the cigar in the middle, to test it, I can hear it crackle a bit, and it feels stiffer than usual. Usually when I have a good cigar in my hand I can pinch it and it will give a little, and most definitely wont crack or crackle.


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## galaga (Sep 18, 2003)

Slick26 said:


> I'm using just the hardware that was in the humidor when it was sent to me. So basically its analog junk. I put distilled water in it like i was told. I wiped down the humidor, twice, a day apart, like i was told. I didnt think they would dry up on me in just a week, but thats what seems like is happening. I did calibrate it, but its analog, so who knows. I live in Minnesota. This time of year its very humid here, so that shouldnt be a problem! And what I mean by getting crispy, is when I pinch the cigar in the middle, to test it, I can hear it crackle a bit, and it feels stiffer than usual. Usually when I have a good cigar in my hand I can pinch it and it will give a little, and most definitely wont crack or crackle.


Wood can take up a lot of moisture before it comes to equilibrium. If you calibrated you hydrometer, and you are using a credo that uses propylene glycol, the RH should read 70%. Sounds as if your system is still equlibrating, give it time. As far as the getting crispy is concerned, when you pinch the cigar, certainly the wrapper shouldn't crack, but the cigar should make a faint crackling sound and the stiffness is a function of the cigar brand and how it was rolled. What brand did you buy if I might ask? Another thing, putting a shot glass with distilled water in there isn't a bad idea, but be careful not to knock it over. BTW, a full humidor works better. You might also need to put more distilled water in your credo. Here is a little reading for you, good luck http://www.cigarnexus.com/counsel/cigarstorage/index.html


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## Slick26 (Jun 22, 2006)

It's a pretty good sized humidor, not huge though. I think its a 75 count. I didnt fill it up with propylene glycol or anything like that, I just filled it with distilled water. I was told that would be ok. Sounds like it might be worth it to upgrade the system though. I've already been thinking a digital hygrometer would be a good idea. So you're saying I should upgrade the actual part that humidates (sp?) the humidor? Is that what everyone is talking about when they get beads? 
Replacing the original humidator (sp? lol) with beads, or is that in conjunction with the original humid-making-thingy. Please except my apologies, I really cant remember what its called. Haha. The cigars I got are from Thompson in FL, they're Macanudos and Partagas, along with some of their brand cigars (some good, some so-so).


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## Slick26 (Jun 22, 2006)

galaga said:


> http://www.cigarnexus.com/counsel/cigarstorage/index.html


That's good reading BTW, thanks. Gotta start learning somewhere right!


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## [OT] Loki (May 24, 2006)

Slick26 said:


> It's a pretty good sized humidor, not huge though. I think its a 75 count. I didnt fill it up with propylene glycol or anything like that, I just filled it with distilled water. I was told that would be ok. Sounds like it might be worth it to upgrade the system though. I've already been thinking a digital hygrometer would be a good idea. So you're saying I should upgrade the actual part that humidates (sp?) the humidor? Is that what everyone is talking about when they get beads?
> Replacing the original humidator (sp? lol) with beads, or is that in conjunction with the original humid-making-thingy. Please except my apologies, I really cant remember what its called. Haha. The cigars I got are from Thompson in FL, they're Macanudos and Partagas, along with some of their brand cigars (some good, some so-so).


these are the beads: http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/Beads.htm they replace the foam disk that comes with the humidor. You definitely need a digital hygrom and some other form of humification besides the floral foam.


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## Ermo (Jun 3, 2006)

Those Thompson's wouldn't happen to be some of their "dog rocket" in house brand would they? Go to cigarbid.com or jrcigars.com or cigarsinternational.com and compare prices to thompsons before you buy from them again.


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## Slick26 (Jun 22, 2006)

[OT] Loki said:


> these are the beads: http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/Beads.htm they replace the foam disk that comes with the humidor. You definitely need a digital hygrom and some other form of humification besides the floral foam.


Mine isnt floral foam though. Its a plastic "puck" if you want to call it that. If it has floral foam inside of it then I'm not aware of that, I cant see inside. 
I love this new term (new to me anyway) "dogrocket." Where the HELL did someone come up with something like that? lol


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## [OT] Loki (May 24, 2006)

Slick26 said:


> Mine isnt floral foam though. Its a plastic "puck" if you want to call it that. If it has floral foam inside of it then I'm not aware of that, I cant see inside.
> I love this new term (new to me anyway) "dogrocket." Where the HELL did someone come up with something like that? lol


if it's the one that came with the humidor it's most likely floral foam


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## montecristo#2 (May 29, 2006)

First, get a digital hygrometer, the analogs are pieces of crap. I tried to salt test mine, when I adjusted the screw it jumped and hasnt' worked since. Now they are decoration only.

How long did you wait before you put your cigars into the humidor? Typical seasoning has taken me between 4-7 days. I have also noticed, if the cigars are a little dry to begin with (from shipping) then the RH can drop when you put the cigars into the humidor as they start to absorb the moisture.

Everyone on this site loves beads and they probably work very very well. I am just using the humidifiers that came with my humidors and so far I have not had any problems. I am using activator solution however, so I don't know if it works the same with just distilled water. If you have one of the humidifiers that only uses distilled water (like the Western humifier), then it should work just fine.

Some good instructions I used before I found clubstogie

http://www.neptunecigar.com/faq/cigars.asp?a=4&q=31

http://www.cheaphumidors.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=ch&Screen=howto_setup

I think the smokes should be fine in the long run, they can get shipped for days without proper RH and they are fine after a couple of days (weeks) in the humi. As long as you don't put them in the fridge.

If you are really worried about the cigars, did the company enclose any small packets to maintain the RH while shipping? If so, you can buy a small tupperware container (assuming you don't have that many smokes yet) and tape them to the lid. Then just through your smokes in there and they should be fine. I got three tiny RH (boveda) packets with my singles and after 1 hour inside the tupperware, it reads 69% dead-on.

To season my humidor I actually went out and bought the seasoning packets, just so I didn't have to think about it. Yes, they cost more and you shouldn't need them, however, they work fantastic. I have used the same packets to season two humidors. After placing them into the humidor, it has taken about two days to stabilize at 70%. For my first humidor I left them in there for 8 days, for my second one (currently seasoning) I will probably only leave them in there for 3-4 days. I quickly wiped the inside down with distilled water using damp lint-free cloth (just enough to get it shiny), let it dry a little and threw in the packets. Done.

just my :2 :2 :2 :2 :2


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## Slick26 (Jun 22, 2006)

Hey everyone, thanks for your advice. I'm gonna hit the sack so I can salvage some daylight tomorrow and try to put some of this good advice to use. Probably be seein ya around here. I kinda like this site so far.  Take it easy gents.


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## jcruz1027 (Apr 10, 2006)

Great advice from everyone in my opinion! Its going to take some time for the humidor to adjust properly. If you ordered the sticks via the internet then they will contribute to this in absorbing moisture. But since I'm just repeating what others have said I'll stop typing.


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## White97Jimmy (May 12, 2006)

Also, a quick fix to humidifying a humidor is to heat up a shot glass of distilled water in the microwave for about 25 seconds (until it gets steamy), then set the shot glass inside the humi for about 10 minutes. (remove your sticks before doing this!)

After taking the shot glass out, let it sit for about an hour to let the temps cool down inside.


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## 68TriShield (May 15, 2006)

Hopefully you got all the info you needed. I will say nice avatar though.Don't forget the new gorilla forum...Dave


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## dadof3illinois (Nov 7, 2004)

Slick,

If your humidor wasn't pre-seasoned then this step may take up to a couple weeks to complete.

I would recommend buying some beads, this is the only humidification device I use and they have worked very well.
Get these first, you can always put your cigars in a ziplock bag and throw in the tube of beads and feel comfortable that they will be at the RH your beads are.
Then pickup a good Digi Hygrometer, calibrate it and your set.

Don't panic, everything will be fine.


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